I remember with precision the biggest downswing I’ve suffered to date. I was just nineteen years of age and President of the Poker Society at Oxford University. I was playing the student poker circuit here in the UK as well as a few festival events at our big casinos in addition to online and I simply couldn’t win a hand. I busted myself out on the third day of a two day event in Reading with Aces when my opponent donk-shoved into me with Queens. I went thirty events without a cash, let alone a win and I was starting to get a pasting online too. I had done reasonably well up until then and had been playing NL250 for a while and I must have had an eighteen buy-in downswing. I was on super crazy monkey tilt for half of the time and I couldn’t do anything to win; it was a real bleak period. Eventually, however I worked through the downswing and brought my game back on course with a nice $3,800 Stud Hi-Lo win online which was followed up by taking down a £100 buy-in HORSE event at the Gutshot in London. I ran the course and emerged a better and stronger player for it. I’d like to share some advice to help you deal with a cold streak.
1. Be hard on Yourself
When I was on my cold streak, I’d try and justify bad plays on the downswing in variance. I’d look at my friend Tom and I’d say something like, “My God, I run soooo bad, there’s was no way I couldn’t be ahead there.” His reply, as I was making my way from the table was usually something like, “Mikey, you’re full of air. You took such an awful line there.” Tom, was right a whole bunch of the time. You may find that the worse you run, the worse you end up playing and that really is where things degenerate. You need to try and realise when you are struggling and how you are going to stops the leak in your play. Seek out some advice, ask players you respect (the more skilled the better) and try and find out how they honestly think your play is going. Through such a process, I was able to work out that I was playing too aggressively and just taking a predictable line far too often.
2. Take some time out.
This was a really hard thing for me to do, so I won’t pretend that this will be easy but it is necessary! When you are running really badly, a break from the tables is just what you need. Poker is a difficult and intense game, you really use up a lot of energy in concentrating as well as you need to. There was a time when I was playing something like 65 hours of poker a week and it took a toll in my decision making and exacerbated the downswing. Most of my friends played and talked poker so it took some doing, especially as there was always a game that I could be invited to, but I took a welcome two weeks out the game, got some proper exercise and came back with a fresh will to win. Poker was still there when I returned so it’s important to realise that time spent away from the game, completely detached can be time well spent.
3. Let yourself play good poker
That sub-heading may sound a little bit obvious but I think it bears some elaboration. What I mean is that you need to make sure that you are playing in the best circumstances with the best chance of doing well. Some players when they run bad, began to make mathematically incorrect plays because they believe that they are due some luck but that luck factor doesn’t really exist. Thus, you need to be fresh and focused, so keep yourself in good condition physically so that you can perform best mentally. Play shorter, more focused online sessions to keep your decision making at the top quality. Try to keep your head clear of externalities like variance and get on with making those solid reads and plays that your experience allows you to make.
4. Have a hard head.
It might be easier said than done, but you need to be able to withstand the losses. Be prepared for the downswing and don’t let it get to you. I don’t think it’s right to shut it out completely, as that could be dangerous, but you need to have a thick skin. Get some advice, take a break, do anything that means that you can restore confidence in yourself. I knew that I was a good player (and I hope that I still am) and that I was better than the games I was playing. A healthy bit of arrogance and confidence will do no harm. It’s important to remind yourself that a downswing will end, it may be turbulent for a short time, but it is not a permanent state of affairs.
At the end of the day, variance will affect us all to a greater or lesser degree; it is an inevitability. If we can move through it strongly, all the while playing solid poker with our game face on, taking a break if we need to, it should not be our downfall.
This article was written by meshuganater.
Tags: bad luck, dealing with variance, downswing, poker life, strategy, variance
I enjoy reading your posts on key concepts, it helps me improve myself a lot!
Thanks a lot MMxx. It’s always nice to hear that my work is being enjoyed